Federal
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December 19, 2024
Top Federal Tax Policies Of 2024
In 2024, the U.S. Senate rejected a tax bill negotiated between the chairs of the House and Senate tax-writing committees, and on the regulatory front, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service pressed ahead with regulations implementing the Inflation Reduction Act. Here, Law360 looks at the most consequential developments in federal tax policy from the past year.
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December 19, 2024
5th Circ. Urged To Deny Tax Break For Doc's Captive Insurance
A physician who owns a network of urgent care clinics was correctly denied tax deductions along with his wife for over $1 million in premiums they paid to insurance companies they owned, the government told the Fifth Circuit, saying the captive arrangements didn't qualify as insurance for tax purposes.
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December 19, 2024
GAO Finds Direct File Pilot Successful, Suggests Upgrades
The Internal Revenue Service conducted a successful test run this past tax season of Direct File, a new online tax return preparation service for individual taxpayers, but the agency could do more to expand access to the program, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported Thursday.
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December 18, 2024
Tax Shelter Defendant Charged In Investment Ploy
Federal prosecutors have accused two men, one of whom is already facing charges of promoting tax shelters, with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with their operation of a multimillion-dollar fraudulent investment fund, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Colorado federal court.
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December 18, 2024
Dutch Bank Exec Gave IRS Good Tax Tip, DC Circ. Judge Says
D.C. Circuit judges grappled Wednesday with the denial of a whistleblower award to a late Dutch bank executive who tipped off the IRS to tax reporting schemes, with one judge saying during oral arguments that the executive appeared to have handed the agency "gift-wrapped" evidence of wrongdoing.
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December 18, 2024
Dem Senators Probe IRS Pick's Past With Retention Tax Credit
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said Wednesday that he was investigating President-elect Donald Trump's Internal Revenue Service commissioner pick over his work promoting the fraud-riddled employee retention tax credit and had sent letters demanding information from two tax advisory firms he worked for.
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December 18, 2024
Man Must Pay $1.3M Tax After Losing Fight Over IRS' Timing
A Nevadan owes the Internal Revenue Service more than $1.3 million for 2006 after a federal court rejected his arguments that the agency failed to timely pursue its tax claim against him.
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December 18, 2024
Short-Term Funding Bill Would Keep $20B For IRS Frozen
The Internal Revenue Service would have $20 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding remain temporarily frozen under a deal lawmakers struck to keep the government running until March 14.
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December 18, 2024
Upcoming IRS Regs Will Have Optional Amount B Pricing
The Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday that is planning to propose regulations that will give corporations the option to price certain cross-border transactions using a simplified and streamlined approach under a new international tax framework known as Amount B.
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December 18, 2024
IRS Pushes Some Retirement Plan Min. Distributions To 2026
The Internal Revenue Service updated the effective date to January 2026 — instead of next year — for when some must start to withdraw the required minimum amount of funds from several types of individual retirement accounts that were amended by a December 2022 retirement savings law.
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December 17, 2024
CORRECTED: Ineligible Calif. Securities Atty Accused Of Tax Crimes
A Southern California securities attorney currently ineligible to practice law has gone over five years without filing any personal federal income tax returns, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged in announcing a recently unsealed indictment against the lawyer on Tuesday.
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December 17, 2024
Texas Judge Won't Pause Block Of Corp. Transparency Law
A Texas federal judge on Tuesday denied the government's request to stay his nationwide block of a corporate transparency law while an appeal is pending, saying his view that Congress lacks the constitutional authority to enact the legislation is likely to prevail at the Fifth Circuit.
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December 17, 2024
Biz Group IDs Clean Fuel Production Registration Issues
The process of registering as a clean fuel producer in order to be eligible to claim the associated tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act has proved to be confusing because of a number of practical issues, a group representing the U.S. biogas industry said in a letter released Tuesday.
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December 17, 2024
IRS Extends Accounting Change Waiver Eligibility To 2024
The Internal Revenue Service again adjusted a previous notice Tuesday to modify certain procedures for obtaining automatic consent of the agency commissioner to change methods of accounting for expenditures paid or incurred in taxable years beginning after 2021, extending them for another year.
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December 17, 2024
Payment To Ex-Wife Not Deductible Alimony, Tax Court Says
A man's $35,000 payment to his ex-wife from stock proceeds is not deductible because it qualifies as a division-of-assets payment and not alimony, the U.S. Tax Court ruled in a bench opinion released Tuesday.
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December 17, 2024
US Seeks Foreclosure To Pay 'Survivor' Winner's $3.3M Taxes
A federal magistrate judge should have recommended allowing the U.S. government to foreclose on two properties it claims are controlled by a winner of the "Survivor" TV series who owes $3.3 million in taxes, the government told a Rhode Island federal court.
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December 17, 2024
NY Urges Justices To Pass On IBM, Disney Royalty Tax Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court should decline to hear appeals by IBM and Disney that claim New York state's tax treatment of royalties received from foreign affiliates resulted in unconstitutional discrimination against interstate commerce, the state told the court Tuesday.
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December 17, 2024
IRS Corrects Proposed Admin Requirements For Direct Pay
The Internal Revenue Service issued a correction Tuesday to proposed regulations laying out administrative requirements for tax-exempt entities to elect out of their partnership status in order to take advantage of new rules enabling direct cash payment of clean energy tax credits.
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December 17, 2024
Ex-Pol Can't Shake Fraud Rap Over Jury's Racial Makeup
A Massachusetts federal judge denied a Vietnamese-American former state senator's bid to undo his conviction for unlawfully accepting unemployment assistance and filing a false tax return, rejecting claims that jury selection was tainted by "racial animus" on the part of prosecutors.
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December 17, 2024
Magic Runs Out For Tax Pro Who Stiffed IRS Out Of $145M
A New York City tax preparer who earned the nickname "the magician" while depriving the IRS of $145 million in revenue copped to tax evasion on Tuesday before a Manhattan federal judge.
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December 17, 2024
IRS Finalizes Expanded 'Coverage Month' For Premium Credit
The Internal Revenue Service finalized rules Tuesday that will expand the definition of a coverage month for purposes of computing the health insurance premium tax credit.
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December 17, 2024
Justices Urged To Let Stand Ex-Wife's Tax Payment Suit
A woman who said the IRS wrongly applied her tax payment to her ex-husband's bill asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand a Third Circuit ruling allowing her to challenge it, saying the decision doesn't conflict with any other rulings and involves an issue that rarely occurs.
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December 16, 2024
Mich. Judge Troubled By Scope Of Feds' CTA Data Collection
A federal judge in Michigan said new disclosure requirements for small businesses seem burdensome and intrusive during a Monday hearing focused on the privacy implications of the currently blocked anti-money laundering law.
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December 16, 2024
Texan Still Owes 2021 Tax Bill Despite Levy For Other Year
While the U.S. Tax Court is sympathetic to a Texan's complaint that the Internal Revenue Service's levy procedure will result in his facing an endless string of collection actions, he still must pay his $12,500 deficiency from 2021, the Tax Court said Monday.
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December 16, 2024
6th Circ. Affirms $3M Tax Bill For Gold Broker
A gold and silver broker who made fatuous arguments that he wasn't subject to income taxes owes $3 million in liabilities, the Sixth Circuit ruled, upholding a U.S. Tax Court decision.
Expert Analysis
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3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture
Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents
Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
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A Guide To Long-Term, Part-Time Employee Determinations
With final regulations under the Secure Act requiring 401(k) retirement benefits for long-term, part-time employees expected soon, Amy Sheridan and David Guadagnoli at Sullivan & Worcester look at how the proposed rules would shift the risk-reward calculus on excluding categories of employees, and what plan sponsors would need to consider when designing retirement plans.
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After Chevron: Delegation Of Authority And Tax Regulators
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service will face higher standards following Loper Bright’s finding that courts should determine whether agency rules meet the best possible interpretation of the tax code, as well as the scope of the authority delegated by Congress, says Edward Froelich at McDermott.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market
Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
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Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights
Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.